One of the benefits of the January transfer window – as Rangers discovered when signing Rafael Fernandes on loan from Lille – is that it allows talented young players the opportunity to seek first-team football away from their parent clubs.
Lille’s president opened up on Rafael Fernandes’ switch to Rangers this week.
Having not played a single Ligue 1 game during 12 months in France – Lille paid £2.5 million to sign the former Portugal Under-21 international from Arouca in January of last year – Stade Pierre Mauroy boss Olivier Letang admits that Fernandes was someone who simply ‘needed playing time’.
The sort of playing time Lille could not guarantee.
And while a place in Philippe Clement’s first XI is far from guaranteed either – John Souttar returned to Premiership action with a goal as Rangers thrashed Ross County 4-0 last weekend – Rafael Fernandes has, at the very least, upgraded the Lille reserves for the Ibrox bench.
If Rangers had not succeeded in tying up a short-term deal for the 6ft 3ins colossus, a deal which could be made permanent in the summer, well, let’s just say another few months out of the picture would not have bode well for the youngster’s development.
A place in the reserves looks to be the fate that has befallen Aaron Anselmino, however.
Aaron Anselmino in Chelsea limbo after Rangers links
Rangers expressed an interest in the Chelsea defender, as well as Fernandes, during the winter window.
After moving to Stamford Bridge in a £15 million deal from Boca Juniors last summer, the one-time Manchester United spent the remainder of 2024 back on loan at the Argentine giants.
But as the Premier League website provided a post-window update of Chelsea’s official top-flight roster, Anselmino was conspicuous by his absence.
If the 19-year-old had hoped to force his way into Maresca’s plans between now and May, the return of Trevoh Chalobah after a spell at Crystal Palace may have put pay to that.
Provided Chelsea have no plans to sent Anselmino out on loan again to one of the league who’s window remains open – take the Turkish Super Lig, for instance – it appears that the highly-rated 19-year-old will have to wait until the 2025/26 season before he makes a competitive club appearance again.
According to the Scottish Sun, Chelsea feel that Maresca is not yet ready to be thrust into the choppy waters of Premier League football.
Rangers may see Anselmino as a summer target
Marseille came closer than anyone to securing a deal on deadline day, with the L’OM boss Pablo Longoria left fuming as a deal fell apart in the dying embers of the window.
While Marseille’s fingers may have been burned too much to consider a return – Longoria makes no secret that he is ‘not a fan’ of Chelsea’s way of doing things – this may be a deal Rangers opt to keep on the backburner until the window opens again.
Rangers are reportedly targeting Spezia’s Nicolo Bertola too. The Italy Under-21 defender is due to become a free-agent in July.
Perhaps, with Rafael Fernandes only on loan and yet to prove he can cope with life in the Glasgow goldfish bowl, Philippe Clement, Nils Koppen and co are already doing their due diligence on potential centre-back targets of the future.
And if Maresca really has no plans to include Anselmino in his Chelsea picture at this stage, there may well be a deal there to be done in July rather than January.
